It takes a village

Every morning Can and I drive across the Yolo causeway and feel uplifted by the natural beauty around-the soft colors of the morning sky, the flocks of birds moving in unity, rising, falling, and swooping about, the fascinating shapes and patterns of the rice fields and farmland...all framed by the distant hazy mountains. What an extraordinarily beautiful community!

Escuelita is learning all about our world around us-our community. As we study what makes up a community, we think about the natural elements-land, animals, and growing things, the physical structures of buildings, shops, homes and the roads that connect them, and the people that live within-working, playing, and doing all the things that keep our community safe and thriving.

In Art, we've been thinking about the physical landscape of our community, and what better artist to study than local Wayne Thiebaud! We looked at his paintings of the delta landscape, and noticed the colors, shapes, lines, and patterns. We found ponds, creeks, roads, farms, houses, and trees. We created a collaborative landscape, painting our homes, school, parks, trees, and families.

We were especially drawn to the lines and patterns in the farmlands of Thiebaud's work, and utilized colored tape as a medium to create a dynamic group piece on our whiteboard. Students worked cooperatively to determine where the rivers, roads, and lands would be placed, and helped each other stretch out lengths of tape of appropriate sizes in alternating colors.

What colors, shapes, lines, and patterns do you notice when you are out in the community? Do you see straight or curvy roads? The repetitive vertical lines of street lights? Squares of cement that make up the sidewalks? The rectangles of doors and windows and triangular rooftops? Art is all around us!

My home. My School. The park. The store. The fire station. A tree in front of my house.
This is my neighborhood.

"A tree lives in my neighborhood. It's not living in my house but it lives by my house. The tree is alive. It's in my neighborhood. My mommy and daddy live in my neighborhood too. They live with me."

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs By,Judi Barrett

"We are building a play structure for our neighbors!"

Our amazing bodies

 

Ready, set, jump! 

Students worked together to construct a series of connecting balance beams using wood planks and tires and enjoyed balance walking and jumping. They were so proud of themselves! Gross motor skills like balancing and jumping are developmental milestones for preschoolers. Their "toddling" gait has disappeared, and now they can run, hop, climb, throw, and catch with ease. 

This week in science we continued to learn about our bones and our bodies. We sang songs about our bodies and we also made a list of things our bodies can do.

"We can run."
"I can climb."
"My body had a lot of bones."
"My body is strong like my dads."
"We can hop."
"I can bend like this."

"I can stretch my arms."

  

During our nature hike we climbed on top of a house!

We traced our bodies.

We use our bodies to help our friends.

We used our bodies to climb up a ladder. What parts of our bodies are we using when we climb?

"We have to use our legs and hands."

"We use our head."

"We have to make sure we are not falling."

"We will be careful."

 

Our bones hold us up! If we didn't have them we couldn't stand, sit or walk. They provide structure for us and also protect our delicate inner organs.

        

 During snack we've been reading There Was a Bold Lady Who Wanted a Star. Check your child's pocket she/he might have a star hiding in there.

Thank you Jack for bringing our class wooden airplanes! We had a blast putting them together and painting them.